The Tennessean reports that the precise theater was Carmike Hickory 8 Cinema.

We can now report that Carmike Cinemas has been boycotted over their gun free policies in the past. Moreover, those same policies were praised by Newtown Action Alliance; a gun control group which formed a week after the heinous December 2012 attack on Sandy Hook Elementary.

According to Second Amendment Check, a Carmike representative responded to an email about the cinema chain’s gun policies by writing:

Thank you for your inquiry concerning Carmike’s policy on the possession of firearms within our theatres. The events in Aurora, Colorado have placed a renewed emphasis on safety and emergency protocols at all of our theatre locations. Like many movie exhibitors and other retail businesses, Carmike does not allow weapons of any kind, including firearms, into our theatres, except for weapons carried by law enforcement and other security personnel. This policy was in effect prior the recent events in Colorado and remains our policy going forward.

Note the prohibition against “firearms” and “weapons of any kind.” Yet according to The Tennessean, the Carmike Hickory 8 attacker had pepper spray, a hatchet, and a gun. On the other hand, law-abiding citizens who adhered to the corporate ban on guns were defenseless.

As we saw at the Grand Theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana, persons with ill intent are not hindered by gun and weapon-free zones. Instead, such zones make their attacks easier.

It is interesting to note that Newtown Action Alliance publicly recognized Carmike Cinema’s gun policies by listing them in their group of companies that have demonstrated “Corporate Responsibility” on guns. They were recognized for having “publicly adopted policies that discourage firearms from being brought into their environments.”

Again–such policies do not prevent criminals from carrying guns or hatchets or pepper spray, but they do prevent law-abiding citizens from being able to defend themselves.